Security expert breaks down Miley Cyrus' bodyguard's behaviour after fans spot 'worrying' detail
One of the more memorable moments from last night's Grammys had everything to do with Miley Cyrus' bodyguard's umbrella.
That's not any sort of euphemism, the moment when the 'Flowers' singer walked down the red carpet has been heavily discussed as some urged people to 'pay close attention' to her bodyguard. Watch here:
Did you see it? He's holding a fairly large umbrella in a particular way!
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If you're still not sure what all the fuss is about, there are plenty convinced that is no ordinary umbrella, but instead the sort of thing you'd see in the Kingsman films.
Lots of speculation is going around that it's actually an 'assault umbrella', basically a concealed firearm, while others reckon the idea of Miley Cyrus' bodyguard bringing an umbrella that shoots people to the Grammys was pretty ridiculous.
While plenty have commented on the suspicious looking umbrella, bona fide security specialist Will Geddes told LADbible that people thinking there must be more to it than keeping the rain away might be onto something.
He said security guards do use things like umbrellas for protection, and at certain events bodyguards have permission to carry concealed weapons.
Geddes explained: "So if they are a licenced protection officer, which I would imagine Miley will have, then there's every good chance that he will be carrying a weapon anyway.
"But having said that, in terms of the umbrella, the umbrella is a really practical tool, you will see it being used by quite a few celebrities. It's used for two reasons.
"There are very special tactical umbrellas that you can actually buy. If you go onto Google, you'll actually see some, and you put in tactical umbrella.
These umbrellas are very, very rigid. They're not like your regular umbrellas, which just simply sort of fold if you hit someone with them, they're reinforced steel."
As for how a security team might use one of these umbrellas, the expert said they could be used as a weapon to fight people off or as a shield to block people from getting close to 'your principal', the person they're meant to be protecting.
Geddes revealed that he'd used the tactical umbrella himself a few times and found it to be 'highly effective'.
On the attack he said you could 'jack someone in the sternum' while it could also be 'highly effective' at blocking people throwing things at a target.
"There's every good chance that he was using that umbrella to basically make it less easy for somebody if they wanted to chuck something," the experienced security specialist explained.
"Miley has a lot of threats against continually, you know, mad crazies fans and stalkers, so there's every good chance that she would have a) have good security, but b) that they might use this kind of tool.
"The only thing that slightly foxed me was that he was rigid, and he was just staring straight ahead. He wasn't really looking at anything around.
"So there's a good chance that they will be on the first secure perimeter that they've got through, which is why he then felt comfortable enough that he didn't have to have his eyes darting around the places any normal closed potential would in an unsecured area."
However, if you were thinking the bodyguard was holding the sort of umbrella The Penguin would use to try and shoot Batman then you 'might be pushing it' according to the man with over 25 years of experience.
As for potential threats at the Grammys, Miley Cyrus' bodyguard would most likely have been protecting her from being 'targeted by fixated people'.
Geddes explained that for most celebrities like Cyrus, and he'd worked for some famous faces over the years 'these are stalkers, people with mental health issues, who have an obsession with her'.
So there you go, it's entirely possible that her bodyguard did indeed have a special umbrella he could have used to protect her, but the idea that he'd have been ready to shoot someone with it was maybe less likely to be correct.
Topics: Miley Cyrus, Grammys, Celebrity, Viral
Joe Harker